Sighting equipment, such as sights used with weapons, more specifically guns or other types of projectile launchers, are well know to those in the art. Accuracy, consistency, and ease-of-use are three of the hallmarks of a quality sight. Over the years many different types of sights have been designed and manufactured in an attempt to provide a user with evermore practicality and functionality.
For example, one the oldest types of sight is the iron sight. It comprises two spaced metal aiming points that have to be aligned. This type of sight requires considerable experience and skill because a user must hold a proper eye position while simultaneously focusing on the rear sight, the front sight, and a target at different distances in order to align all three in order to hit a target. Another type of sight is a telescopic sight. As the name implies, telescopic sights provide the user with an enhanced view of a target through the scope. Telescopic sights allow for greater accuracy at long distances but at the cost of peripheral vision, as the user will tend to close the non-dominant eye. Yet another sight is the reflector sight. Reflector sights generally comprise a reticule of some type and a lens or curved mirror which collimates the light from the reticule making it nearly parallel with the axis of device or gun barrel. Reticules may include battery powered lights, fiber optic light collectors, and tritium capsules. Reflector sights incorporating curved mirrors and powered reticules can be fairly bulky.
Furthermore, the aforementioned types of sights may also be adapted for use with launching devices. For instance, the leaf sight is an iron sight attached to the top of a gun's handguard and cooperates with the front sight post of the gun. It comprises a folding, adjustable, open ladder design which may include elevation adjustments positioned along the ladder at 50 meter increments. This type of sight allows for quick adjustment to different elevations or distances without having to readjust the sight. However, this type of sight protrudes from the top of the gun, increasing the guns profile and making it easier for it to be broken off.
Another adjustable sight is the pivoting sight mount. This type of sight is generally mounted to the side of a gun that has an attached grenade launcher. It mounts to the side because the gun usually already has a sight for the gun portion. This type of sight arrangement increases the parallax created by placing the sight off to the side of the center of the barrel. Additionally, if multiple users of different handedness are using the weapon, the users will have to dismount and reassemble the sight to the other side of the weapon. Further, the pivoting side mount may be unable to mount to certain weapons, for example, a revolver-type grenade launcher like the Milkor MGL-140 (a.k.a. the M32), and it also adds another piece of equipment to an already large handheld weapon.